TEMECULA: Dads, doughnuts kick off day

It's not every day that elementary school children get to have breakfast with their dads at school or indulge in a chocolate doughnut first thing in the morning.

But scores of children enjoyed both Friday at the annual "Donuts with Dad" before-school event at Temecula Elementary School. For the last several years, the school's PTA has sponsored the morning doughnut party as a way to welcome families and draw more dads to school.

By all accounts, it's working. More than 200 dads and their children ---- with some moms, too ---- turned out Friday between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. to enjoy doughnuts, milk and coffee in the multipurpose room. Several fathers said they wouldn't miss it and were happy to be on campus with their children enjoying a sweet treat.

"I've been doing this for three years. I've had three daughters go through here," said Dennis Garringer, who enjoyed a doughnut with his daughter Alyssa. "I've always been able to get to everything my girls have had," he said.

When asked what her favorite part of the event was, fourth-grader Alyssa gave a typical answer you might expect from a child: "The chocolate."

At a nearby table, Oscar and Jenny Gonzalez enjoyed munching with their children, third-grader Yazmin and kindergartner Oscar Jr.

Oscar Gonzalez, the father, said the family doesn't eat doughnuts for breakfast at home very often and he enjoyed touching bases with his kids' teachers. He also said the event is a good way for the school and PTA to recruit fathers to participate in the campus Watch D.O.G.S. program, which brings dads, uncles, grandfathers or other father figures to campus to serve as positive role models and volunteer for a host of jobs from playing sports with the students during the lunch break to helping in the classroom or computer lab.

D.O.G.S. is an acronym for "dads of great students," and elementary schools around Temecula have stepped up efforts in recent years to bring fathers and other male relatives into the program.

Jenny Gonzalez said the Donuts with Dads event draws plenty of people every year.

"This is an awesome way to get the dads involved. A lot of schools focus on getting the moms to come," she said.

Yazmin added that it was fun for her to see her dad's photo posted in the school hallway after he was photographed helping out at a Watch D.O.G.S. event at school. "I went over to the wall and saw him up there," she said.

Temecula Elementary School PTA President Dana Strebig and her husband, Joe, worked at the event, mingling with parents, serving doughnuts and signing up fathers to volunteer. Joe Strebig, who walked around with a clipboard and a stack of Watch D.O.G.S. forms, said quite a few dads had signed up for the program during the doughnut party.

"PTA does this to give back and to get bonding with the children and their parents. It gets people thinking about the school. This is one of the most popular events during the year," he said.

Dana Strebig said the PTA decided to hold Donuts with Dads at the beginning of the school year to help encourage more parents to volunteer earlier in the year.